The present invention relates generally to wall plates used to convey electric signals through premise wiring systems, and more particularly to a variety of wall plate assemblies with preterminated connections to a premise wiring system.
Wall plates are commonly used to terminate premise wiring. In one general form, the wiring acts as a signal carrier for electrical signals, while in a specific form is capable of conveying audio, video and related data signals between a signal source (such as a computer, audio, video or combination device) and the wall plate. Audio, video and data devices (such as displays, monitors, digital video disk (DVD) players, compact disk (CD) players, video tape recorders or the like) can be plugged into the outlet of the wall plate to complete the signal path. Typically, the terminus of the wiring is such that electrically conductive wires (or a group of wires) are connected to corresponding jacks or related connectors on the wall plate through conventional fastening means, such as by soldered joints, spring-biased clips or screwed posts. The use of such labor-intensive approaches during installation and upgrade is deleterious to an efficient, low cost and reliable finished product. This problem is especially prevalent in wiring systems that require periodic upgrading as new technology becomes available. It is therefore desirable that a more efficient approach to connecting premise wiring to a wall plate be developed.